A PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) is a term used to describe a set of medical image systems that store and manage digital medical image data from CR, CT, MRI and the like used in clinical practice, and use an online network to communicate and transfer the digital medical image data. In general, the PACS refers to a set of systems that includes not only a medical image server and viewer, but also a reporting system, a Radiology Information System (RIS) and the like.
The DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standard serves as the standard for the PACS system. The DICOM standard is a global standard for medical image taken with MRI, CT or the like, and defines mainly a data format and a communication specification of medical image information.
Following the DICOM standard, not only images taken with MRI or CT, but also data related to medical practice such as motion video data, sound data and the like created from endoscopes, ultrasounds or the like, can be unified and managed. More specifically, any image data taken with a different type of digital image device in a different hospital can be shared through a network and a recording media.
Currently, there are various techniques utilizing a DICOM file (files created conforming to the DICOM standard) (JP-A-2005-278991 and JP-A-2009-142388).
JP-A-2005-278991 discloses a system in which medical image data included in a DICOM file is used for a telediagnosis.
JP-A-2009-142388 discloses that a specific frame image included in the DICOM file is stored in association with a time-series order information in order to reduce the operation burden when the image is read out from the second time onward. This makes it possible to, for example, play a motion video image from any desired point based on the specific frame image having order information set by a user.